To Take a Life
by TheSnackThatSmilesBack
Summary: Nemesis was two years old when her family was mysteriously murdered. Thirteen years later, the beings that took her in assign her the task of assassinating the Fullmetal Alchemist
1. Chapter 1

Preface

_Its funny how things never turn out the way I'd expect. Quite comical, it was, that in the near year I had been separated from the homunculi, everything about me had changed, from the length of my hair to the way I thought. Even my name had seemed to change in the ten months I had traveled with the Elric brothers. "Everything is different, but everything is the same." Someday, I would figure out what Hohenheim had meant by that._

--To Take a Life--

My name was Nemesis, after the ancient goddess of Revenge, although that was not my take on her. Nemesis stood for equality. She was all for 'an eye for an eye'. She stood for everything being equal, being fair. That's not what I believed in. Life _wasn't _fair, and that's as simple as it got. Innocent people got screwed over and had their lives ruined for absolutely no reason at all, and bad people who did no good for the society went unpunished.

I was fifteen years old back then, with long and straight blonde hair that flowed down to the small of my back, and bright, piercing blue eyes. My eyebrows were naturally arched upwards, which gave me the permanent look of surprise. I was thin and fit, because of constant exercising. I was quick on my feet and very skilled at physical combat. I had pale skin, but not ghostly pale, and I was highly intelligent, if I do say so myself, and also witty and cunning. Sarcasm was like a second language to me, and I could hardly control it.

_I was kidnapped when I was two years old. _Of course, I didn't know this then, when I was fifteen. I didn't even know my birthname back then. Back then, I was aware that my parents and older sister had been slaughtered and I alone had survived. However, back then, the death of my biological family had been a vague, distant thought in the back of my mind that I had never really spent much time pondering about. I was too young to remember much about them when they had died, and, at the juvenile age of fifteen, I was simply too young to care. In the future, I would be guilty, ashamed, that I never gave a second thought to my mother, father, and sister that I had possessed in my first two years of life.

But my story, or at least the most exciting bits of it, begins when I was fifteen years old, so I'll only tell you about the emotions I felt back then. At fifteen, the most important thing to me, the thing that I strived most to achieve, was pleasing Envy. Everything I did, every move I made, was for Envy. I lived my entire life for him, ever since I was two years old and he had 'found' me after I had seen my parents and sister murdered in front of my very eyes.

Now, it seems foolish of me to think that I had never once questioned how Envy had found me right away, had never once questioned how he seemed to be so at ease when a two year old splattered in someone else's blood had approached him cautiously.

Of course, though, I had already emphasized my idiocy at the age of fifteen, hadn't I?

Then…there was Edward Elric. I would meet him at the age of fifteen years old, and he would be the last thing I thought of when I died, two years later. Before I met Edward, I hadn't the slightest consideration or concern for anyone else in the world besides myself, save Envy. I hadn't a care in the world and I most certainly had no clue what love, what compassion, really was, even though I had fooled myself for thirteen years believing I loved Envy.

Edward Elric would be the victim of my constant teasing, ridiculing, and the heart of my soulless cruelty, but he would also be the being I cared about more than myself.

I would mock his height, beliefs, and personality. I would love his red coat, automail, and golden eyes. I would cause him to feel uncomfortable, jealous, and adolescent. I would bring him great happiness, comfort, and love.

I had no idea of how much my life would change when I would be given the task of killing the Fullmetal Alchemist. I had been told close to nothing about what I was even supposed to do, how I was supposed to take his life. The only thing they had informed me of was that I needed to take my time and make sure I got under Fullmetal's heavy veil of paranoia.

I didn't know back then that they, the homunculi, had raised me like a pig for slaughter—or for better terms, a slave to do their dirty work, and that my life's intention to them was to serve. I had no idea when I first set out on the long journey that would eventually bring me to my new life, that to them, I was expendable, disposable.

But as I've stressed countless times, I was a fool, and my naivety would eventually become my downfall.

My name is Nemesis, and this is my story.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

--

Dante lived in a manor on the outskirts of Dublith, allegedly. I was vaguely aware of the underground, abandoned city, but as much as the public knew, she was a sweet old lady who lived alone in her manor. This entire statement was a lie. Sure, she was an old lady. About four-hundred years old. Sweet—more like sour. I have never met someone more indescribably evil in my whole life. Ironically, I was more frightened of Dante than I was any of the homunculi.

The claim that she lived alone was also a lie. I lived in that manor, too. I was never permitted to leave, unless it was to run an errand, and even then I had to be impossibly discreet and make contact with no one, since Dublith was a friendly community and most people knew everyone.

"Busybodies," Dante would say as she sipped her tea, "Will ask you who you belong to if you stray too long outside. You will go to the market, buy the produce, and leave before anyone has the chance to ask you who you are."

And besides that, I didn't leave the grounds. Sometimes I would wonder off into the woods, but I could not go too far, or I would be punished.

In case I haven't mentioned this yet, I was human. Those that I lived with were not. Therefore, I had a certain weakness that the others did not care for—I could die, I could be wounded.

Most usually, it was only Dante, Lyra and I in the house. Lyra was also human, but she didn't know about me. Lyra didn't live with Dante, but she came over quite often and most usually spent the entire day, sometimes even the night. Whenever Lyra was there, I was under no conditions allowed to leave my room. No one was allowed to know about me.

The other homunculi, Envy, Lust, Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, Pride, and Sloth, didn't live with Dante, and as far as I knew, they didn't live anywhere, except Greed, who was mostly found in a small pub called the "Devil's Nest", and Pride, who was actually the Fuhrer King Bradley. I rarely saw any of the homunculi besides Envy, Lust, and Wrath. The only time I had ever seen Sloth was when she had first been born. The thought of what she looked like at first was still enough to make me shudder. I was only eleven when Dante had brought her home.

I liked Wrath almost as much as I liked Envy. He had come to us very recently, and I was thrilled. He had instantly become something of a sibling to me, and I hadn't realized how lonely I had truly been before Wrath came.

--

At that moment, I had been sitting behind the house, crisscross on the ground, braiding beads of grass together. I tucked a strand of long blonde hair behind my hair and tried my hardest not to blink, just to see how long I could last.

"Nem." I flinched at the horrible nickname, without registering who had said it. "Nemesis." I corrected irritably, not even turning around to see who had spoke from behind me. Then the recognition of the voice made it through to my subconscious, and I whipped around, the braided grass falling from my fingers, forgotten and left on the ground.

"Envy. You're back." I couldn't conceal my vibrant grin. He wasn't nearly as delighted as I was, in fact, he looked a bit put off. "How long are you back for?" I demanded, "When are you leaving? "

"Come with me." He ignored my questions.

I frowned, eyes narrowed. "Where?"

"Dante wants to speak with you." he answered swiftly.

My frown grew. "Can it wait?"

"Hardly."

I didn't argue, but was reluctant to follow Envy back into the manor and toward the kitchen. "What is this about?" I asked him suspiciously. No answer. I was beginning to grow impatient. "What does she want to talk to me about?" I snapped.

"A task." He answered simply. "Task?" I echoed, as if I had never heard the word before, "What task?"

I had expected him to ignore me, so I was surprised when he stopped outside the kitchen door and said, "You'll see."

I pouted, disappointed. That was scarcely an answer. "Go." He instructed, gesturing toward the door. "Aren't you coming with me?" I was momentarily confused. He shook his head 'no'.

My brows furrowed. "Do you even _know _what's going on?" I shot at him. "Yes." He answered, and I recognized a pattern of simple, short answers from him today.

I opened my mouth to retort, but apparently Envy had grown annoyed by my disobedience and pushed me through the open doorway himself, shutting it behind me. "Well then," I muttered.

"Nemesis," said Dante, and I looked up to see her sitting comfortably at the kitchen table, looking very at ease and even giving me a small smile, although it wasn't so much friendly and inviting as it was intimidating and frightful.

"Sit down." She suggested, but I stayed grounded where I was. "Sit down." She repeated in a dangerously sweet voice, and I hastened to scramble to the kitchen table and sit across from her.

This was strange. I was used to being sent to the market, but the way everyone was acting…it was strange, as if something were different this time.

I focused on Dante, attempting without success to read her expression. She waited a few moments before quietly saying, "We have a job for you, Nemesis."

I waited, not speaking. I don't think she expected me to say anything, anyways. She just continued to smile curtly at me, and spoke again. "It's very different from the mundane chore of going to the market."

I stared blankly, trying to figure out where she was going with this. "You'll not be coming home for a long time." she added, and this is what caused me to speak for the first time since I had entered the kitchen. "What does that mean, 'I won't be coming home'? Where am I going?" I asked.

"It's not so much a matter of where you are going," she answered, "Because I can't even begin to know. It is a matter of who you are going with."

I felt my heart rise to my throat. Finally, after so long…did this mean I could leave my sanctuary and go out with Envy and the others? Was this what she was saying?

"You are going to do a job for me," she went on, and I listened with a new type of intensity. I sat up a little straighter and my ears perked.

"Nemesis, this is an extremely important situation that I am entrusting to you." she informed me, and I knew she was trying to make me feel important, trying to enthuse me, and she didn't mean a word she said, but that doesn't mean it wasn't working. I was practically beaming on the inside, though I'm pleased to say I managed to keep my expression impassive.

"Have you heard of an assassin, Nemesis?" Dante asked.

"You want me to kill someone?" I replied blankly.

She leered. "Perceptive, that's very good. Yes, you are going to kill someone."

"Who?" I inquired.

She looked, dare I say it, impressed by my lack of caring. She must've expected me to refuse, to be revolted, but in reality, I was already calculating how fast I should do it, so I could quickly come home and be praised.

"An alchemist that is utterly useless to us now." She replied, and I blinked in response. I knew that the homunculi had been rounding up alchemists to make them a true Philosopher's Stone, but I also new Dante held a high, well, for lack of a better word, respect for such people, so by utterly useless, she must've really meant…entirely inadequate, completely disposable.

This alchemist must've strayed pretty far from Dante's grasp to be sentenced to death by her, which made me wonder just how resistant he was. Did he decline making her the Stone? Had he not even attempted; deemed it too futile, not even worth his time to try?

Sure, that would tick me off too, but why kill the man? Did Dante really have such low regard for human life that she would execute someone who refused to do her bidding? Sheesh, I really wanted someone like _that _with the Philosopher's Stone in their hands.

"You can't rush this, Nemesis." Dante warned, "This needs to be your top priority. This alchemist has such a high veil of paranoia, it will be seemingly impossible for you to break through."

I waited for her to go on, and she did. "You need to make him trust you." she instructed, "make him comfortable around you."

I nodded slowly. "That paranoid, huh? Like, government conspiracies paranoid?"

"Not exactly." She replied vaguely, which instantly made me suspicious. "What's his name, anyways?"

"His State-issued name is the Fullmetal Alchemist." She replied, and I got the feeling she was holding something back.

"He's a State Alchemist?" I asked, surprised, "Don't they have like, years upon years of training? How is a fifteen year old girl going to lure some military guy into his death trap?" I demanded. She raised her eyebrow at my disrespectful tone and a chill went down my spine. "Sorry." I apologized instantly, "I just…don't think I'm the best person to do this."

"You are." Dante assured. I frowned, unconvinced. "Is there anything else I should know about Fullmetal?" I asked hesitantly. She considered that. "I think you'll see for yourself." She replied. I felt my heart speed up.

"When am I leaving?"

"Tonight."

"_T-tonight?!" _I repeated, shocked. "I'm not ready!"

She clicked her tongue impatiently, and I knew better than to argue. "Okay," I whispered, "Tonight."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

--

At the age of seven, I had caught a field rat with my bare hands, while I was out in the woods that surrounded Dante's manor. It squirmed and squealed in my grasp but I refused to let it go. Not realizing what I had done until seconds afterward, I had squeezed the field rat too tightly, and it had died in my hands.

I remember being devastated. I had taken a life with my own hands. I had killed a living being. And for the longest time, I was so conscious of every move I made; when I stepped on the plant, did it die as well? If I didn't watch the ground with every step I took, would I accidentally squish an ant?

Yet, funnily enough, I felt no emotion at all as I prepared to leave the house I had lived in for as long as I remembered to kill once again. Admittedly, I had never taken a human life, but in all reality, what was the difference between a human and a field rat?

I was in my bedroom, staring at myself in a mirror and running a comb through my long blonde hair.

My room was small and dark. It was lavish with lace curtains hanging from the bed canopy and the window, and most everything was dark-colored, such as blacks, and burgundies, which I liked. I was rarely ever in my bedroom; I usually spent time outside, in the backyard, or the woods, as long as I didn't go out too far. As I've said before, I was under no conditions allowed to leave the manor's grounds.

Crossing the room to the chest of drawers, I opened the top drawer, and thought about packing a change of clothes. Finally, I decided against it, silently pushing the drawer closed again. Would it look suspicious to the Fullmetal Alchemist if he went through my knapsack and saw clothes? Wouldn't that imply I had been planning on traveling?

But then, I found myself wondering for the hundredth time since I left Dante in the kitchen just over an hour ago how I would meet this State Alchemist in the first place. How would I even pick him out from the crowd? I didn't know what he looked like, his age; I didn't even know his real name. Was Dante intentionally making this difficult for me? Why couldn't she just tell me who he was, what his real name was, how old he was, what he looked like? Would it be too boring to make this simple? Was she getting a thrill out of giving me a hard time?

And, on the topic, how the hell would a fifteen-year-old girl such as myself have any hopes of deceiving a probably-forty-something year old man with intense training and a military background? This whole thing seemed like a suicide-mission. (I, of course, wouldn't understand the irony and complete truthfulness of this statement until much, much later, but you as the readers are welcome to smirk inwardly and cynically say to yourselves that I'll soon see just how correct what I had just thought really was.)

I snatched up the small, black knapsack from the otherwise spotless floor of my bedroom. I stuffed inside of it a hairpin, small pad of paper, and a knife—the first things my hands found.

I couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement. I was finally leaving this place, my sanctuary. I was leaving Dublith; leaving this house…it thrilled me in an unexpected way. Under the sheer glee was the smallest, most faint trace of guilt. My joy would inevitably result in someone else's death. Whether or not I dragged out my vacation from Dante's home as long as I desired (which I fully intended to do), eventually, a State Alchemist's—the Fullmetal Alchemist's—blood would be spilt.

However, Fullmetal and his long-lost life were not of importance of me. He would die eventually, anyways, why should it matter to me what the cause of death was? The only thing right now that mattered was that I was leaving, finally.

I had already dressed. I won't say I was spoiled, since most everything that filled my wardrobe was a hand-me-down of Dante's, but nonetheless, the plentiful supply of dresses was hardly scarce in generosity. Or amount, for that much. Unfortunately, I doubted a ball gown was the appropriate choice for an outfit if I were to be going out. Would simple slacks look too casual? Would a skirt look too formal? On one hand, clothes specifically reflected my personality. For instance, if I wore a pink skirt, I would look more feminine than if I wore a black skirt. If I wore pants, I would look more comfortable in my surroundings, which may give the expression that I had planned to be out for a while, which could tip off Fullmetal of my intentions, or at least that I had planned on meeting him.

Sighing, I plopped down, right there on the floor, and laid flat on my back, staring at the ceiling. Perhaps I was looking too far into things. Did I honestly expect this Fullmetal—whoever he was—to profile me simply by what I was wearing? "Hmm, she's wearing one white sock and one black, she must be an assassin," I said in a gruff imitation of a manly voice, making myself smile.

Despite the continuous fluttering of my heart, like an energized bird in a small cage, which had been very active since I had learned I would be leaving, I felt calmer than before as I lay on my floor. Stretching out with my arms above my head and making myself as long as physically possible, I held the position for a moment or two before relaxing the now tense muscles.

This was it. I was out of here. Dante had said herself that I was allowed—no, _implored—_to take my time with Fullmetal; she had clearly said to be sure I was under his 'veil of paranoia' (or something along those lines), before I murdered him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind much if I took, say, at least a few months in the open air before slaughtering him and returning home.

It was very generous, after all, that I would allow the Fullmetal Alchemist to live a bit longer after my strict instructions to kill him. He'd be very grateful when I told him I had saved at least a little while of his life before taking the rest. I could picture it now: the horrified, disbelieving expression of the Fullmetal Alchemist as I told him that he was going to die—I frowned. No, I could not picture it at all, since I hadn't the slightest idea what Fullmetal even looked like. I envisioned the expressions I hoped to see, but the features of the face that wore them were blurry and unclear.

You may be thinking right now that I was an awful, disturbed, vindictive little girl for getting a thrill at picturing my victim's last face before his untimely death. What can I really say in defense? Awful, maybe. It certainly wasn't good that I had no known conscience to give me the squirmy, uncomfortable feeling of doing something wrong. Disturbed, indefinitely. Could you honestly say that you _wouldn't_ be; even after being brainwashed for thirteen years by as evil and despicable a woman as Dante? Vindictive, of course. Remember, Envy was my idol at the time. Who could adore Envy as I did and _not _be vindictive?

Eventually, (although I cannot give you an accurate time, because I hadn't kept track of how long I stared at the ceiling), I stood up and decided I couldn't afford to procrastinate much longer. Underestimating Fullmetal, I deducted that no one, not even a State Alchemist like himself, would be able to profile me by what I was wearing. I chose comfort over the other option, and shimmied out of what I was wearing to pull on khaki colored slacks and a simple white button-down shirt.

Hair. This was the next challenge that stumped me. Later, I would laugh at how hyper-vigilant I had been about such trivial things, like what I wore and how my hair looked on my first meeting with the Fullmetal Alchemist.

I pulled my long, light blonde hair into a high ponytail, tying it back with a red ribbon. My bangs fell back onto my forehead, along with a few stray strands that hung by the sides of my face.

As if he had timed it perfectly, my bedroom door opened and in trailed Envy. "Here's a tip," he said nonchalantly, and I turned around, prepared to soak in every word he said, so I could replay them back in my head when I was alone in the real world, and needed closure. Little did I know that once I was out there, I would never be alone again, and I had been most alone here, in Dante's manor.

"A tip?" I inquired, looking him straight in the eyes and marveling at their color—a light amethyst. "Fullmetal's an alchemist," he began, and I regrettably cut him off. "The Fullmetal _Alchemist _does alchemy? Why, I would've never guessed." I said sarcastically.

Envy acted as if he had not even heard my comment, entering my room farther and plopping down on the bed. "Fullmetal's after the Stone." He got straight to the point. I frowned. "The Philosopher's Stone? But then, he must be useful to Dante! Why would she want him killed?"

"Because he has failed to meet her requirements," Envy replied, which I translated as, 'she asked him to make her the stone and he said "piss off"'.

"So…should I encourage his target of making a Stone?" I pressed. Envy hesitated. "Ideally, the perfect scenario would be a completed Philosopher's Stone and a dead Fullmetal Alchemist."

"So…I stick around until he makes the Stone, then kill him?" I made sure. That sounded awfully disappointing. Allow the poor Fullmetal guy to make his precious Stone, and then kill him? And steal the stone, even? What an awful, disturbing, vindictive thing to do.

"That would be ideal," Envy repeated, "But not necessary. Dante just wants him dead; you don't need to bring back a Stone as well."

"With all due respect," I said slowly, "Would you mind me asking what Fullmetal would want with the Philosopher's Stone?"

"What every other human wants with it," Envy spat, "Power." Of course, back then I didn't know he was lying. I wouldn't realize until later that the Fullmetal Alchemist wanted to use the Philosopher's Stone for quite possibly the most modest reason in existence. Nevertheless, back then in my bedroom with Envy, I was disgusted. "Right. I could've guessed."

Now I had a new passion for killing the State Alchemist. He was just another greedy, power-hungry monster that lived up to every stereotype the homunculi distributed to humans. "Are you ready?" Envy stood up. I nodded, "Yeah. What exactly is the plan, anyways? Where am I supposed to go?"

He grinned a vicious, ecstatic, terrifying smirk. "You'll see."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The more I retell of my story, the more I realize that not only was my life completely empty before I met the Fullmetal Alchemist, but it was also mind-numbingly boring. Who did I have to make fun of back then? Who did I have to ridicule? Whatever did I do without that soft red coat flung so carelessly over my shoulders? 'Dull' is the first word I think of when I remember my life BE (Before-Edward, as I like to refer to it). Ironically, the entire time I spent with the Fullmetal Alchemist was jam-packed with anything but boredom, and I wasn't quite satisfied with the constant life-or-death situations, but beggars can't be choosers, and I was certainly a beggar back then.

I turned toward the door of my bedroom, practically glowing with excitement and ready to disembark on the dangerous mission before me. In case I haven't mentioned before, I was practically a prisoner to Dante's manor. I won't say I didn't love being there, but it _was _incredibly tedious to be here day after day and if you look just directly above this paragraph, you'll come to see that I _do_ hate boredom.

"Nem," Envy called from behind me. I cringed at the horrible nickname, turning around in a flash. "You know full well that is _not _my name, Envy." I said through gritted teeth, "And it would be in your best interest not to use it."

He let out a humorless laugh. "My best interest, eh?" he repeated, and I popped an eyebrow, hoping he would take the bait. I could use a practice fight, anyways, seeing as I hadn't sparred in a while. Unfortunately, he knew I was intentionally instigating him and did not offer a fight, so I didn't ask. "Nemesis. My name is Nemesis." I said very seriously.

I took pride in my name. It was the one thing that made me closer to the homunculi than it did humans. I didn't like to think of myself as a human, even though I was very much one. I liked to think of myself as another homunculus. 'Nem', the nickname, was an awful, normal, nickname that put shame to the name 'Nemesis', and I would not stand for such disrespect toward my wonderful name.

I, obviously, did not know what my birth name was at that time, and I wouldn't figure out for at least a year or two. At that point, I was perfectly content being 'Nemesis'. In time, I would come to adopt the terrible nickname 'Nem' and, believe it or not, grow to like it, thus discarding 'Nemesis'. For now, though, Nemesis was my name and I wore it like a crown.

I turned back to the door, reaching for the handle and opening it, but pausing when Envy said, "Wait." Again, I turned away from the door to face him.

"You got a gun?" Envy asked, and I knew it was a trick question. "Guns are weapons for the weak," I rattled on, "It takes true skill to wield a sword, and even more to use a knife." I flashed a grin and, in one swift move, my own knife was out of my knapsack and in my hands.

Again, he rejected my request to spar, so, slightly crestfallen, I replaced the knife in my knapsack and turned on my heel, this time not being stopped by Envy and exiting the room. I was aware he was right behind me as I walked down the stairs, so I instantly stood up a little straighter and tried to make my gait look more graceful. Naturally, because I'd be damned if anything relatively good was allowed to happen in my life, I skipped a step on accident, and would've faceplanted forward if Envy hadn't silently caught me by the elbow and repositioned me before walking past me down the staircase. "Well, you aren't your bright and cheery self today." I muttered under my breath. I was used to Envy's sour attitude, but something about today made him seem extra-angsty. I liked to think maybe it was because he was upset I would be leaving to do something so brave…so dangerous…so admirable…

Maybe I was exaggerating a _bit_, but come on, would you be as calm as I was if you knew you were going out to kill someone? Highly unlikely.

As I reached the bottom step, he looked at me sternly. "No funny business, got it?" he said, "When you're out there, if you don't act perfectly, if Fullmetal figures you out, then Dante _will _punish you, if he doesn't kill you first of course."

"Relax," I said easily, "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. Just wait, this'll be a breeze." That was a lie. "I'm not going to get hurt." I assured. Another lie. "Fullmetal's not going to see what's coming to him. Trust me, I'll be nightmare." This, readers, was absolutely true.

He said nothing, so I figured he mustn't be convinced. "Dante wouldn't ask me to do this if she didn't think I could handle it." I added, which wasn't entirely true. Dante seemed like just the type of person who would assign a task to me that she without a doubt was sure I wouldn't complete.

"Sister!" a delighted cry broke the silence, and within seconds I was being hugged tightly by a small, long haired young boy.

"Wrath!" I sounded just as happy, and I bit surprised, bending down to hug him back. I did after all consider Wrath a younger brother. Besides Envy, he was my favorite homunculus. I was glad I would get to see him before I left. "They told me you were leaving," he mumbled, "When are you coming back?" "In a flash," I promised. (That's a lie, but I didn't know that back then)

"Come on," Envy forcefully pried Wrath off of me, "Let's get going." I pursed my lips at him reprovingly, but smiled at Wrath and waved goodbye.

* * *

"An…alleyway?" I frowned, looking around my surroundings. Envy and I had left the manor without any goodbyes to Dante, but to be honest, I don't think she minded much. Now, we stood in a damp and foul-smelling alleyway.

"Look," Envy said quietly, pointing. I squinted my eyes and saw a large building just across the streets. The alleyway we stood in was dark, so it was the ultimate place to see and not be seen. "That's East Headquarters," he informed me, "they'll be coming out of that building any time now."

"They?" I picked up on the word, "What do you mean 'they'? I thought I was killing _one _alchemist."

He didn't answer. I clicked my tongue impatiently, again looking around the dirty alley. "Why can't we wait for them somewhere else?" I demanded. "Too many witnesses," he murmured. I blinked. "And, er, what exactly would they have witnessed?" I asked slowly, unsure of what Envy had in mind. I was about eighty percent sure he had no intentions of hurting me, but he _did _seem to be in a bad mood today, and there was no telling what Envy would do when he was in one of his 'moods'…

"Give me your knife." He ordered. I stared with wide eyes and made no move toward the knapsack on my back. "Nem! Knife! Now!" he barked, and I jumped, too frightened to register he had used the hated nickname, and fumbled with my knapsack, pulling out the knife and hastily handing it to him. "What are you going to do…?" I mumbled, watching the blade. "Come on," he said angrily, "Do you think I'm going to hurt you right now, when we've only just assigned you with the task? You don't have anything to worry about, Nemesis, you're not disposable yet."

A nervous giggle burst through my lips. I had assumed that he was kidding when he said 'yet'. He wasn't. "You're right," I agreed, "I'm much too important to kill."

"Don't move," he murmured, which of course made me want to turn and run down the alleyway, far away from this psycho that I had just provided with a weapon.

Now, don't get me wrong—I _do _love Envy, but it didn't mean I wasn't just a _little _scared of him. He could be terribly forceful when he wanted to, and he had a knack for acting before thinking of the aftermath. It was a trait that I myself possessed, and probably picked up from him.

Nevertheless, I stayed grounded (out of fear or obedience I could not be sure) and watched with slight paranoia as he examined the blade. "Stay still," he said, and I squeezed my eyes shut very tightly, hoping that, Envy knew what he was doing, and gasped a surprised, "oh!" when the blade made contact with my neck, and he cut a small incision. I wrenched my eyes open and stared at him in disbelief. "What the hell?"

"Now you have an alibi," he explained in a hushed tone, looking over his shoulder, "Excellent. There they are."

I craned my neck, (flinching in pain) but I couldn't tell who he was talking about, all I saw was a big crowd of people outside a building.

I allowed my hand to subconsciously trail up to the thin cut on my neck, already dripping with blood. "Envy," I said, "Why…?"

"Well, we're going to need a diversion," he said with one of his evil leers, "Now, scream." Unquestioningly, I did exactly as I was told, letting out an earsplitting, well-practiced scream of pure terror. Envy, again, turned to look over his shoulder. "Perfect. They're coming."

I couldn't help but pick up on the fact he said 'they' again, and I had a sickly feeling that he—as well as Dante and everyone else—knew something that I did not. "Well," Said Envy briskly, "I've got to run. Have fun with your Fullmetal boy," he made a clicking noise by sucking in his cheek, winked, and was gone before I knew it. "Wait, boy?" I called after him. That seemed like a strange error to use while describing a State Alchemist. Didn't he mean 'man'? I suppose Fullmetal Man doesn't have the same ring as Fullmetal Boy…but…

I hardly had time to fall dramatically on the nasty ground of the alleyway and force tears out of my eyes before I heard the familiar noise of footsteps in puddles, a strange clanking of metal, and then…I had company in my alleyway.

I tried to play the part of someone who had just been attacked, as Envy undoubtedly wanted me to do, while also sizing up my new guests. I jumped, shocked.

He had to be close to seven feet tall, maybe more. For one reason or another, the man before me was wearing a full suit of armor. I realized with irony that this must be why he's called the Fullmetal Alchemist; because he wears that silly armor. I know Dante said he was paranoid, but was all _that _really necessary?

I gave but a glance to the young boy next to the man in armor before turning back, because he didn't interest me. From what I saw in the darkness that surrounded me, he had light colored hair, a little darker than my own, and the thing that made me look at him at least a second longer before turning back to armor-guy was his intense golden eyes. They were such a peculiar, intriguing color.

After a third of a second, though, I decided the giant suit of armor was more interesting to look at then some kid's yellow eyes.

I was vaguely aware I was staring, but that didn't stop me from doing it. Dante expected a teeny girl like _me _to kill a huge guy like this?

I heard the little blonde boy panting for breath, but for some reason, I heard nothing come from inside the armor. "What the hell are you screaming about?" wheezed the blonde boy, and I turned to look at him, cringing at the sharp pain from the cut on my neck.

"She's hurt, Brother!" I was startled by the soft voice that emitted from the armor. It sounded no older than ten. I instead focused my attention on the boy whose face I could see clearly. He was frowning. He wore a long, red coat (I wondered if he was sweating to death) and under that, another black shirt with a large clasp at the top. I could just make out the outlines of an undershirt under the black one. He also wore tight black pants, which again made me question how he wasn't sweating his ass off right now. I also noted white gloves on his hands and boots on his feet. What a freak-show.

Overall, I estimated he was about…thirteen, fourteen years old? He wasn't very tall, so I didn't consider he'd be older. "What happened?" the blonde demanded, "Someone attack you?"

I nodded hollowly, remembering how important this was and forcing myself not to blow it. "Y-yeah," I said shakily, hoping I looked frightened. "He was…different," I mumbled, a plan already forming in my mind, "At first…he just looked like a regular guy but then…something happened…"

"What happened?" asked the armored one kindly, and I was still marveled by his soft, gentle voice. He sounded so young, how in the world could this be the alchemist I was supposed to kill?

"He…_changed_…" I whispered, and watched the two exchange glances. "Envy?" said armor-guy, and the blonde boy nodded grimly, "Sounds like."

Excellent. "Here, let me help you!" said armor-guy politely, bending down and holding out a hand to help me up. I stared at for a few seconds, and then pushed myself off the ground without taking it, brushing myself off. "What would Envy want with some girl?" the boy directed at armor-guy. I frowned, not really appreciating to be talked about as if I wasn't standing right there.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat loudly, "I'm _right _here!"

"O-oh!" stuttered armor-guy, "I'm so sorry! My brother can be awfully rude sometimes," he sent a reproving look at his brother, which may seem difficult to do when you're wearing full-body armor but armor-guy seemed to pull it off. "My name is Alphonse Elric," Alphonse Elric introduced himself in that soft, kind voice of his, and I made a mental note: Armor-guy/Fullmetal = Alphonse. He continued, "And this is my brother—" "I can introduce myself!" interrupted the snappy short boy, turning to face me and jerking his thumb toward himself, raising his chest a bit in slight arrogance, and announcing, "And _I'm _his older brother Edward, more commonly known as the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

My laughter echoed through the empty alleyway. This shrimp, the Fullmetal Alchemist? Ha! He stared at me irritably, and I realized I had made a grave mistake. If this _were _the Fullmetal Alchemist, I had just given away the fact I knew the name and didn't expect him to look like that, which meant, if the brat was really as perceptive as Dante warned, he would be figuring out right about then I was suspicious.

I quickly saved myself, coughing quickly and saying, "Did I hear you say _older _brother?" I hoped he would take this as an excuse for my outburst. Luckily and unluckily at the same time, he most certainly did.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HALF-PINT BEAN SO SMALL HE COULD BE SQUISHED BY AN ANT?" Edward Elric the alleged Fullmetal Alchemist shrieked so loud, I cringed. "I'm so sorry," I wasn't sorry at all, in fact I was quite amused by his reaction (trust me, this would not be the first time), "It's just, you're so much smaller than—"

"GYAHHH! DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "I won't, I won't!" I guaranteed hurriedly, "Never again!" This, readers, was the biggest lie I would ever tell to Edward Elric, including everything I had planned next.

The Fullmetal Alchemist, as he supposedly was, still looked agitated. "What about you?" he said rather rudely, and I was beginning to wonder why his mother never taught little Eddie proper manners, "What's your name?"

"Nem—" I broke off before I said my full name, mentally kicking myself. Well, damn. I couldn't exactly tell him I was named 'Nemesis', which was pretty much equivalent to getting a tattoo on my forehead that read, "I'm actually in cahoots with the homunculi and plotting to kill you".

Since I didn't want Elric to think I was actually in cahoots with the homunculi and plotting to kill him, I bit my tongue (literally, not metaphorically) when Alphonse Elric chirped, "Nem?"

I cursed under my breath at my horrible luck. Damn, damn, damn. "Yes," I looked at armor-guy—excuse me, Alphonse, I mean, and gave him a large, sweet, entirely fake grin. "Nem. That's my name."

"That's a weird name," Edward snorted, and I felt the urge to hit him. It was an urge that would never go away.

"Is it short for something?"

"Yep," I confirmed, stretching and fingering the bloody gash on the side of my neck. It had stopped stinging by now and I almost forgot it was there—like most of you readers, I'm sure.

"What's it short for?" Edward shot at me, and I scowled at him for being so nosy. "My full name, of course." I replied simply. I heard Alphonse contain a slight giggle, which for some reason sounded as though it echoed in the ridiculous armor he was wearing.

"We should get her to a hospital, brother," piped up Alphonse to hide the giggle, which unfortunately for him Edward had picked up on and was frowning at. "Naah, we should get her to Headquarters, I'm sure Mustang will be interested to hear about a girl getting attacked by a homunculus."

"What's a homunculus?" I asked brightly in mock curiosity, playing dumb. "Mustang will explain everything to you when we take you to Central, it's right back there." Edward shrugged me off. I narrowed my eyes. "Or _you _can explain everything to me right now." I said fiercely, biting my tongue again in regret instantly afterwards. I forgot I was supposed to be playing the part of a terrified little wimpy girl. The Elrics must've been realizing I was up to something around now. Or perhaps they would give me the benefit of the doubt, and think maybe I was just strong-willed.

Either way, I was screwed, whether they would grow to trust me or not. I'm sorry to say that they _would _eventually trust me, and I feel even worse telling you I would betray that trust.


	5. Chapter 5

QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took so long to update! I promise you'll never have to wait that long again!

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Chapter Five

--

My name is Nemesis, and I am awfully impatient and easily bored. This is where you say, "Hello, Nemesis!" in a chorusing tone.

Readers, these before-chapter reminders of what has happened in the previous installment of my short and miserable life have _got _to stop. I simply have too busy of a life to be constantly summarizing what has happened in a previous chapter. You would have to be incredibly dimwitted (which I am assuming you are not) to _not _remember that I have just recently met the Fullmetal Alchemist, whom I am destined to kill.

It is, of course, acceptable that my birth heritage has just happened to slip your mind, as it so often does mine, so I will repeat: my parents and sister were all mysteriously murdered when I was somewhere around two years old, and I was within minutes "found" by our green-haired friend and taken to his master.

Now, readers, if you have not spotted a suspicious connection in these events, or perhaps missed the quotations around the word 'found', then maybe you are just as dimwitted as I pretend you aren't.

Back on the topic of the discontinuation of recalling briefly the events of previous installments before I begin a new chapter, which by the way is incredibly dull and repetitive for the poor author who has spent her whole life and will undoubtedly spend the rest of it wallowing in her own self-pity, I am trusting my beloved followers with the oh-so difficult responsibility of remember the former going-ons of my unfortunate tale.

To make a quick interjection: if you are like me, then you were marveled by the length of that last sentence. This next one is even longer, my dear friends.

As I sit here in the small, crammed living room of my house in upper-London, forcibly remembering my life as a fifteen-year old and writing it down in horrible detail (thanks to the suggestion of my darling but terribly empty-minded husband, who sadly believed my "stories" of Amestris to be nothing more than the result of an overly active imagination), the last thing I need is to be continuously repeat the same dreadful happenings chapter after chapter.

Actually, the absolute _last _thing I would need to happen is my good friend Rachel Pierre, who won't be introduced in this edition of my three-part story, to have a premonition of me being trampled by a crowd of escaped zoo animals as I head to my publisher to release the finished version of _To Start from Scratch,_ leaving my devastated fans without a proper ending to such a woeful trilogy and my devastated husband without a proper wife, since men are rarely ever in a happy marriage with dead, trampled-by-escaped-zoo-animals women. Many authors, though, as well as doctors, lawyers, teachers, and plumbers will exaggerate a statement to emphasize its importance.

So, if you find yourself experiencing an extreme case of memory loss, it is recommended that, rather than continue reading this hopelessly complicated story without a sense of what's going on, you should quickly skim over the chapter before this prior to reading a new one. It is inadvisable for you to rely on me to repeat information you might've missed, because I can only say I have long blonde hair and bright blue eyes so many times before I am bored out of my wits.

--

Edward Elric took in my long blonde hair and bright blue eyes slowly, as if he were just now noticing I was a girl. "Brother, maybe the Colonel should…" the armored guy—I forget his name—trailed off.

"Fine." He grumbled, "We'll quickly take her to Mustang, like _I _suggested originally, and find out what Envy wants with a little girl."

"Little girl?" I echoed before I could stop myself, frowning, "That's rich, coming from a twelve-year-old like you." I stood up from the dirty alleyway ground and brushed myself off, gingerly touching my cut from dear Envy. I guess Elric was about to have another one of his spasm screaming fits, so I cringed to prepare, but his big armored brother whose name I just _could not _remember quickly said, "Actually, he's fifteen, and I'm fourteen!"

At first, I didn't let the surprise of the high-pitched boy's age despite his massive form show on my face, but then I figured it would probably look strange to be so calm at this, so I widened my eyes and said, "Wow, really?"

This was how my first meeting with the Elric brothers, as well as the entire time I pretended to be someone I wasn't, went. I considered my every word before speaking, watched my steps, and was as careful as possible. I wish I could say that after Edward Elric found out about my secret, things would be different, but to say this would be a terrible lie. That was how Edward and my relationship would always be: secrets and lies.

Back to the alleyway. It was becoming very annoying that I could not remember armor-boy's name. He nodded uncomfortably at my 'awed' question, his armor clinking loudly with his every move. "How old are you, Nem?"

I, as usual, flinched at the detested nickname, hoping I would get to kill the fifteen-year-old midget and never have to hear it again. At the same time, I was making a mental note: _Armor-kid is making diversions about his freakish size. Find out why._ I planned to do this around the time I found out what his name was again.

"Er, what?" I asked, feeling stupid because I couldn't remember what he had asked me. Unlike you, I didn't have the luxury of looking up at the last paragraph.

"How old are you?" armor-boy repeated in his gentle voice, and I once again paused to consider. After weighing both sides, for this I decided to go with the truth. "Fifteen."

"Enough chitchat," said the apparently impatient alchemist, "Let's just get her to Mustang and call it a night, Al."

Al! _That _was his name. Now, what was it short for? Albert? Alfred? Neither of those sounded like badass full-armor-wearing-guy names.

"Then I guess we'll be staying in Central for the night, brother." Said the armor named Al. Elric sighed. "I guess so, Alphonse."

Alphonse!

"Come on, Nem," said Alphonse Elric kindly. You know what, let's just assume that everything he says is in a kind manner, so I don't have to keep repeating 'said kindly'.

I did the customary flinch at my new name. "We'll take you to Colonel Mustang." Alphonse explained, "And tell him you were attacked."

I nodded, and the three of us started walking toward the large official-looking building in the distance. "Then what?"

"After we find out what Envy's playing at," Edward took over, "We'll make the next move."

I nodded again, and then there was silence. In my gut, I had that horrible feeling that, no matter what, everything would end badly. It's a funny expression to use, 'gut instinct', because a gut is obviously not an appropriate advisor and shouldn't be listened to when making life decisions. However, as I look back at this part of my life, I only wish I had listened to my gut before things were too late.


	6. Chapter 6

By now, the only people that have made it all the way to the sixth chapter of my life must be the foolishly bored ones that have nothing better to do. Lest I have been unclear in my previous introductions, I find that if I were to not warn you about this painfully true story, I myself would feel a sharp twinge of guilt deep down, somewhere in between my liver and pancreas. So, if I have not stressed this enough, I will repeat: This does _not _have a happy ending, will not have a happy ending, and in reading this I can ensure that a small part of you will die inside.

On that note, allow me to describe what has begun to happen now. I could almost feel my patience level dropping as I walked next to these two strange boys and toward the central headquarters, or whatever it was called. The short, irate blond one on my left side kept shooting me strange, angry-looking glances, as if I had run over his cat or something.

What I wanted to say to the pesky state alchemist was something along the lines of, "_I'm so sorry to inconvenience you by (allegedly) being attacked in an alleyway with no form of protection. Next time, maybe you should tell me when you're more prepared to save my sorry ass, and I'll try to keep all the assaults in this particular timeslot"_

I mean, seriously. Come on.

I felt a strange feeling creeping from my stomach to my throat as we slowly approached the military building. Perhaps this thing I had mistaked for excitement was actually fear; for I had never had such a lump form in my throat, nor had I ever felt so anxious and reluctant at the same time.

I inhaled slow, deep breaths through my nose, and kept my expression blank. I could hear the clanking armor of Alphonse Elric to my right, and a sort of muffled but still vaguely similar sound from the blonde-headed State Alchemist on my left.

We were walking up a long row of steep steps toward the entrance of Central. I felt a knot tie in my stomach, and momentarily focused on my trivial curiosities as to why the architect that designed this building had made it so wearily extravagant. I was practically panting for breath and sweating by the time we had stopped climbing steps and were walking through the front doors.

My first reaction was a cringe, and I squeezed my eyes shut. "Why the hell is this place so damn bright?!"

Alphonse chuckled. Edward rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'wasting time'.

I scowled, and my speculations as to why someone would want the pipsqueak dead were slowly evaporating away.

My second reaction was to whip my head around and stare with wide eyes at everything we walked past as the brothers led me down the winding hallways. It was like a maze—every hallway looked the same, and it never seemed to end.

Soon, my feet were hurting. I had blisters on my heels from the boots I wore. My shoulders slumped. "How long have we been walking?!" I asked exasperatedly.

Edward Elric whipped a pocket watch out of his (go figure) pocket. "Two minutes."

I groaned. "Liar. It feels more like two hours."

Abruptly, he stopped. My shoulder slammed in to his. "Ow!" I cried out, clutching my shoulder with the hand connected to the arm of mine that _wasn't_ throbbing in pain. That hurt way more than it should have.

Edward looked away, cheeks going slightly pink but not saying a word. Alphonse looked away, also, both brothers avoiding my eye contact. I stared at them in shock. "What was _that_?"

Edward avoided my question. "Sorry," he muttered, not sounding very sorry at all. "Anyways, we're here."

I noticed the door we stood in front of for the first time. "Oh," I said, completely forgetting about my aching shoulder, "Is this the office where your Mustard person works?"

"Must_ang_," corrected Edward with another roll of his golden eyes. I had to fight every urge of my body to not roll my own at his annoying arrogance. He knocked a gloved hand against the door, and after a few moments' hesitation, there was a, "Come in."

Edward opened the door and entered without another second of waiting, and Alphonse and I shuffled in after him.

I won't bother to explain what the office looked like, because I'm sure that if you have an imaginational range larger than the size of a teaspoon, you can pretty much picture it for yourself. At the desk in the far end of the room sat a man in what were probably his late twenties, early thirties. He had a head of messy black hair and matching eyes, which were narrowed. His lips were curved into a smirk, and he had piles upon piles of papers cluttering the desk in which he sat.

I watched his eyes flicker from Edward to Alphonse to me, wavering a second longer on yours truly. My blue eyes were just as sharp as his black ones, and we stared at each other for a few long, silent seconds. His lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. I allowed myself to mirror the stranger's smirk. Neither of us blinked, and though there had been no rules established beforehand, or any heads up, we both knew that this had turned into some kind of complex staring contest.

Finally, he looked away from me, up at Edward. I let my chest rise with pride at my first success in the long mission ahead of me.

"Who's your friend?" asked the man, and I twitched slightly with irritability, disliking greatly to be talked about as if I were not in the room.

"This is Nem," Alphonse introduced. I cringed. Why, oh why, had cruel fate forced me to adopt this horrendous nickname that I had spent almost thirteen years detesting? Dear Lord, I hoped this assassination would be over before the accursed name stuck.

The silence of earlier returned, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable, because I could feel three pairs of eyes on me. With a casual flick of blonde hair, I remembered what my position was supposed to be, and I took in a deep breath.

As of this moment, I was no longer fifteen year old Nemesis, the human who longed to be a homunculus and strived for perfection and praise from her beloved Envy, but I was now scared, timid Nem, who had been attacked by a strange and frightening man and hadn't a clue as to why.

"I was attacked," I whispered in my most timid voice, "By a strange man. I haven't a clue as to why."

"It was a homunculus." Edward clarified, "we think."

"You think?" asked Mustang, "Or you know?"

The blonde-headed alchemist twitched an eye. "I said _think_, not know. We _think_ it was a homunculus."

"Well, before you come here bothering me, why don't you try to make sure you_ know_ these things." Mustang waved a dismissive hand. I pursed my lips at the colonel. Did I not mention the fact I was a sweet and innocent young damsel in distress here? Sheesh. And here was this military official, not caring that a poor little girl was attacked.

"What makes you think it was a homunculus?" Mustang asked, glancing up from the paperwork on his desk, black eyes flickering back and forth from me to Edward and back to me again.

Oops. I forgot. "W-what's a homunculus?" I stammered, inwardly praising myself for my acting skills. All three men ignored me.

"She says he changed forms." Edward explained without so much a glimpse towards me. "_She _has a name." I said irritably. _Even if you don't know what it really is,_ I added in my head, but now was no time to get technical about things.

Colonel Mustang looked at me again. I stared right back into his cold, distant eyes. "Are you an alchemist?" he asked me. I paused, considering how to answer. Honestly, no. I remember when I was young, Dante had tried to teach me simple alchemy, but it just wasn't my calling. Oh well.

As you can see, I'm heartbroken by this.

So, if I said yes, it would be a horrendous lie. On the other hand, why would a homunculus just attack some useless girl on the street for absolutely no reason? It made no sense. Even _if _Envy had a naturally violent nature. If I said yes, I would have an excuse as to why Envy attacked me—I could say he had tried to get me to come with him (presumably to attempt a Philosopher's Stone creation) and I had refused. _But I already said I didn't know why he attacked me._ I thought to myself, cursing mentally. Well, maybe the role I'm playing is of a particularly slow girl.

I sighed. It would be less convenient in the long run to say I was an alchemist. After all, what if they asked me to prove it? Or worse, bored me to tears with some sort of alchemy terminology loser talk? I don't think even _I _could handle that. Besides, the homunculi would have to be _very _desperate to start picking up alchemists from the street to transmute stones.

"No." I finally answered, "No, I am not an alchemist."

"Took you long enough," Edward muttered. "Brother!" chastised Alphonse in a hiss, "Stop being rude!"

Alphonse stared at his brother, through the armor I imagine, and Edward sighed loudly and dramatically, as if he were being asked to complete some sort of atrocious task. "Sorry." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Apology accepted." I said crisply, turning back to the colonel, who yawned and said, "Probably just your every day street thug. You can go home, miss. Fullmetal, bring her outside."

No! I couldn't leave yet! This was terrible! Panic gripping my insides and squeezing, I quickly spluttered, "I wouldn't feel safe going back outside!"

The three turned to me, giving me strange looks. Well, Edward and Colonel Mustang gave me strange looks, and I'm sure if I lifted up Alphonse's headgear armor thing, I would see his face all squeezed up in a weird expression as well.

"I don't care what any of you say," I did my best to keep my voice shaky and frightened, "That…that _thing _that attacked me…it wasn't human."

Colonel Mustang sighed. "If it's really that important to you, Fullmetal can lead you to one of the empty dormitories. They're usually for military use only, but…"

"Thanks," I said quickly, "But…you see…" I thought frantically for a reason to stay close to the Elric brothers. Getting separated from them my first night on the job certainly wouldn't look good on my future assassin resume. (That's a little murderer humor for you. We're usually quite lighthearted, despite popular belief.)

"I'd actually feel safer staying with…them," I tried not to let my nose wrinkle in distaste at the unpleasant lie, gesturing toward the Elric brothers. "After all, they did save me."

I held my breath for half a minute, hoping that the blood rushing to my cheeks would be mistaken for a blush.

Mustang leaned back in his chair, eyebrows traveling up his forehead. "Well, if that's how you feel." He said brightly, shooting a look at Edward, who seemed flustered. "N-No!" he exclaimed, cheeks red with a _real _blush, as opposed to my fake one, "This is a _military base_! I'm sure you're already well-protected!"

"Come on, Fullmetal," Mustang smirked, "Going to ignore the wishes of a damsel in distress?"

I cringed, literally biting my tongue to keep from snapping at Mr. Sexist. I was perfectly content with rescuing _myself, _thank you, it's not my fault this is how events happened to turn out.

"Fine," grumbled the pipsqueak alchemist, and I folded my arms over my chest, satisfied. "Excellent. I feel much safer now."

And so, I followed the Elric brothers out of the colonel's cluttered office, grinning to myself. Well, I'd say that I did an excellent job today, my first day of plotting to kill Edward Elric. I think I'll give myself a pat on the back later.

Unfortunately, what I _didn't _know was that not only would my clever plan eventually crumble to pieces, but I wasn't nearly as deceptive as I personally believed myself to be.


	7. Chapter 7

To Take a Life Chapter Seven

My name is Nemesis. Some people call me Nem, even though every time I hear the horrible nickname I feel like tearing their vocal cords out. It's Nemesis. Just Nemesis. Unfortunately, I might have accidentally let part of my real name slip out when meeting the always polite and level headed Edward Elric and his younger armor clad brother, Alphonse, so as of now, I was known by "Nem". Just great.

Just in case you're hopping into my story a little bit late, which is inadvisable, let me give you a quick rundown of my life: I'm very much human, complete with the blood running through my veins and the ability to be wounded and even die. My closest "friend" is a kind of evil homunculus by the name of Envy, and the closest thing I have to family is the very evil Dante, who has some sort of control of the homunculi that I don't understand, even after thirteen years of living with her.

I was aware that, at one point in my life, I had been a normal person. I had a mother and a father and even an older sister. Envy told me that they were killed when I was two. I had never once, in thirteen years, questioned this. I never considered the possibility that the events in which Envy found me right after my parents and sister were killed could possibly be connected in any way. It's not that I was in denial, but simply I had nothing to deny as I never suspected Envy, or any of the homunculi, of any foul play.

I did not miss my birth family, because I didn't remember them or really care too much about their deaths. I was certainly better off now, with Envy and the others.

Except that now, I'm not with them anymore. Very recently, I was given the task of killing off an alchemist that had wronged Dante in some way, or was unable to complete some task she wanted done. Whatever it was, it probably had something to do with the Philosopher's Stone. I knew next to nothing about alchemy, but one thing I was sure of was that anyone and everyone wanted to get their hands on it. I guess it sort of enhanced your alchemic abilities or something like that. To be honest, I couldn't understand why Dante would want it in the first place. She was such an amazing alchemist as it is, I was sort of scared of what she would be capable of once she finally got the Stone.

Moving on, I had set off on my journey earlier tonight. I met the alchemist Dante wanted six feet under. Believe it or not, he's a little pipsqueak. The same age as me, even. He also has a brother that Dante conveniently forgot to mention, so on top of getting Fullmetal to trust me, I also have to get the approval of his brother. Joy.

Another convenience Dante seemed to overlook was, oh, I don't know, a game plan. I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do. I guess I'll just have to wing it, which seems pretty risky since my life depends on it. I guess Dante and the others once again let it slip their minds that I wasn't nearly as indestructible as they were.

* * *

"Do you sleep in that?" I asked the armor-wearing Alphonse Elric curiously as his hotheaded brother begrudgingly led me into their dormitory. It was rather plain; two beds, a cluttered bookshelf, and clothes on the floor. I wouldn't expect much more from two boys.

Edward glanced back at his younger brother and shrugged. Alphonse nodded and answered, "Y-Yes."

"Hmm," I said, shrugging also, "To each is their own, I guess, but I can't imagine sleeping in a suit of armor is very comfortable." "You get used to it." Laughed the younger Elric nervously.

"Whatever you say." I answered, flopping down on one of the twin beds. "Go ahead, make yourself at home." Muttered Edward.

I shot him a look. "I will, thanks."

"You don't sound very thankful for someone who begged to stay in the same room as us." Edward pointed out grumpily.

"You don't sound very hospitable for someone who was ordered by a superior to let me do so." I retorted.

"I can see why someone would want you dead." Edward raised his voice slightly. I snorted and laid flat again, staring at the ceiling. "Right back at you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded. I shrugged and turned to Alphonse. "I'm sorry," I forced a smile, "this must be your bed, right? Although I don't see what difference it would make under the armor." I added thoughtfully, but shook my head and continued. "I guess I should've realized there wouldn't be room for me in here."

"Damn right," muttered Edward. I ignored the foul-mouthed alchemist and kept smiling at Alphonse, who seemed flustered. "It's fine," he said quickly, "I don't mind, you can sleep in it for tonight."

I nodded. "Thank you very much, Alphonse."

He nodded back at me, armor clinking together. I still felt a twinge of curiosity as to why he wore it, but I was sure I'd figure out soon enough. I looked over to Edward, who seemed to be reluctant to do something. He caught me looking at him, and I quickly broke eye contact, staring down at my feet. I heard Edward sigh, and from the corner of my eyes I saw him do what he had been hesitant to—undressing.

My first thought was that he was just uncomfortable with a girl in the room. But when I saw a glint of silver, I knew otherwise. He removed his red coat and black shirt. Under those, he wore a sleeveless black undershirt (which seemed a little foolish to me, who needs that many layers?) and in this shirt, I could clearly see his automail arm.

My lips parted, and my mouth formed a small 'O'. I didn't realize I was staring for a few seconds, and looked away quickly. That must've been what Dante and the others were hiding from me—or at least one of the many things I'd come to figure out.

My curiosity was already suffocating me, but I swallowed it down and stared at my nails uninterestedly, hoping I looked completely nonchalant with his lack of right arm.

"You're a terrible actor." Edward said flatly. I snorted; he had no idea. "Sorry," I mumbled in my best attempt to sound apologetic. He simply shrugged, taking off his large boots as well. I gawked at him, because apparently the Fullmetal Alchemist had a matching automail leg to go with the arm.

He brought his feet up on the bad and lay flat, like I had been before. I stared at him. "So do I get to hear the story?" I asked him, taking a quick look over at Alphonse, "Was there like, a meat grinder incident or something?"

"Maybe another time." said Alphonse softly, glancing at his brother. Edward had turned away from me, facing the wall.

"Okay…" I said slowly, concealing a disappointed frown, "Yeah, okay, I'll hold you up to that." Alphonse sat down with a loud clanking of armor, right there on the floor. I gave him a funny look, but he seemed comfortable enough, I suppose, so I didn't feel guilty for taking his bed.

I stared up at the ceiling for a few awkward moments, and then glanced at Alphonse. "So…you gonna hit the lights?"

Alphonse quickly reached up to turn the dormitory light off, and the room went dark. I blinked a few times, waiting for my eyes to adjust, and lay perfectly still, thinking.

I listened to a few last clinks of armor and rustling sheets as the Elric brothers both got comfortable. Though I was certain no one was asleep, we all remained silent.

With a drawn out sigh, I stared up at the ceiling. How was I supposed to do this? I ran Dante's words over and over in my head, but the more I thought through things, the less everything seemed to make sense.

I really wasn't capable of this. Killing I could do in a heartbeat. What did his life matter to me? If it weren't for Dante to begin with, I'd have never heard of the incredible Fullmetal Alchemist. That part would be easy.

It was this…this getting under his radar thing that was going to throw me off. How was I supposed to get the little pipsqueak to trust me? I had no idea what proper conduct was. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been forced to be around regular people that didn't know my secret, if there had even been a 'last time'.

I wished I was home. I wished I was done with this stupid 'task' Dante had given to me and ready to get home and be praised.

I smiled to myself at the thought of how happy they would be with me. I, Nemesis, had done exactly what they wanted me to do with no hesitation. I had done something that Dante had even said only I could successfully achieve. If this went well, maybe, just maybe, Dante would allow me to go out with Envy and the others. I had always felt a longing curiosity concerning what the homunculi did when they weren't with Dante.

When I finally returned home, perhaps I would be able to find out for myself.

I turned over on my side, restless. There was no way I'd be able to sleep after all of this. I got the funny feeling I wasn't the only one awake in the room.


	8. Chapter 8

To Take a Life Chapter Eight

It's safe to say that I got about thirty minutes of sleep that first night of my mission. And though the room was completely silent the entire time, I knew I wasn't the only one that stayed up. I sighed, turning on my side. Sunlight flooded the room through the window. I gazed around the room sleepily before I made contact with a pair of glowing golden eyes.

Edward Elric sat up, leaning against the wall that the bed was up against. We stared at each other for a few silent seconds before he broke contact.

I won't lie; he was pretty hard to read.

I could see something there, some sort of hidden emotion, but there was no telling what the child State Alchemist was thinking under that head of golden hair.

"Morning, Al," he said as he hopped out of bed and over to a suitcase in the corner of the room. Alphonse, the one that wore the stupid seven foot suit of armor, stood up. "Good morning, Brother!" he turned to face me. "Did you sleep well, Nem?"

I flinched, but nodded enthusiastically, even managing to fake a little smile. "Uh huh! Like a baby."

"Have you ever seen a baby?" Edward asked without turning to face me, pulling on what looked like the same long sleeve black shirt as yesterday, "They wake up every two hours."

I glared at him. "Sorry, I didn't know I was talking to a baby expert."

"It doesn't take an expert to know that babies don't sleep for very long." He retorted, now wearing the same red coat over his black shirt.

"Alphonse didn't ask me if I slept long, he asked me if I slept well." I snapped back impatiently, standing up and running my fingers through my knotted hair as a form of brushing it.

Edward opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it, frowning.

"Hah," I said triumphantly, "I guess I won that one."

"Maybe this time," he grumbled, braiding his hair messily and sticking his feet into his boots. He pulled a pair of white gloves onto each of his hands and finally seemed to be finished.

I stared at him. "Do you wear all of those layers so that people don't know you have automail?"

Edward blinked slowly, thinking about his answer. "You ask a lot of questions, you know? Come on, let's go to Mustang and see what our next assignment is, Al."

I didn't say anything else, but to myself, I noted that he avoided giving me a direct yes or no answer. Obviously, there was something touchy about his automail, presumably involving how he got it. My curiosity grew.

"What about Nem, Brother?" Alphonse reminded. I smiled. I liked this Alphonse kid. I was glad he wasn't the Elric that I would be killing.

"We'll take her with us to say her goodbyes." He shrugged, opening the door. My smile melted into a frown, but I didn't respond, quickly slipping into my own shoes and following the two brothers out.

The hallways were just as identical and confusing as they had been last night. I followed blindly, but the Elrics seemed to know where they were going without speaking, so I took advantage of the silence to shift through my thoughts.

Edward and Alphonse had told me that they were fifteen and fourteen years old. Why would kids tie themselves up with the military? I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

I supposed there are a few valid reasons. One was that Edward was probably bored and arrogant, and decided to boast about his oh so wonderful alchemic abilities. Being reckless, he probably thought he'd join the military as a State Alchemist so he could brag to all of his friends about how cool he was.

To me, this seemed most likely.

Another scenario was that maybe the Elrics were poor and their parents didn't bring in enough on their own, so Edward put his talents to use so he could rake in some extra money to get bread on the table.

I didn't like this scenario one bit. It made him seem too…modest.

Of course, I had yet to learn that Edward's reason for joining the military had to be the most pure, wholesome, modest one out there.

I found myself drawn back to the physique of the brothers. The automail intrigued me. I looked down at my own hands as I walked slightly behind Edward and Alphonse, bending my fingers. I wondered how it would feel to have automail. _Of course, Dante had conveniently forgotten to mention his automail,_ I recalled bitterly. There was a lot she seemed to leave out, like the fact the Fullmetal Alchemist was hardly older than me, or that he had a brother that worked alongside him.

I pursed my lips. This was proving more difficult than I anticipated.

After what seemed like ages, we stopped in front of the same door we were in front of yesterday. Or maybe it was a different one. I wouldn't know.

Edward strode in boldly without as much as a knock. I heard Alphonse's sigh rattle through his armor, and he followed his older brother. Without much of a choice, I went in after him.

The room looked exactly the same as it did last night. The colonel was still sitting at his desk, behind a towering pile of paperwork that didn't seem to be any smaller. The only difference was that this time, he appeared to be sleeping.

Edward cleared his throat loudly. Colonel Mustang opened one eye. "Can I help you?"

Edward began to reply, but Mustang's eyes fell on me, cutting him off before he could even start. "Good morning, ah, Nem?"

"That's my name." I nodded begrudgingly, "Good morning to you, as well."

"Before I give you any type of assignment, which is undoubtedly why you're here, why don't you boys escort Nem back to her home? I'm sure that she feels safe now." The colonel addressed the boys now.

My eyes widened. How would I get out of this one? There was no good reason for me to stay any longer, but I couldn't just walk away. This wasn't going very well at all.

"Well," I swallowed, "Actually…I….uhm…"

Edward and Mustang stared at me blankly. "I…" my face went pink under their gaze. I gave up, not saying anything and fixing my gaze on my feet. Giving me one last strange look, Edward turned away from me to face Mustang.

"Do you have any leads that Al and I should know about?" he asked.

"I thought it was your job to look for the Stone?" asked Mustang sweetly.

"The Philosopher's Stone?" I interjected without thinking, looking back up. I remembered Envy had mentioned something about Edward not wanting to make the Stone for Dante. Maybe that was why she wanted him dead.

"How do you know what that is?" demanded Edward. "You said you weren't an alchemist."

"I-I'm not!" I said quickly, panicking, "I just…the man from yesterday said something about it!" I invented, "I don't know what it is, you just said 'stone' and it reminded me!"

"You didn't mention that he said something about the Philosopher's Stone last night!" Edward exclaimed. I cringed away from his shouting. "Calm down, Ed!" Alphonse said.

"I didn't think it was important!" I defended myself.

"It seems awfully coincidental that you would just happen to hear something about the Stone from this _attacker_," Edward put air-quotations around the word 'attacker', "And then end up here, with us!"

I put my hands on my hips and huffed impatiently. "Well it's not like I knew you would run into me!" I spat back, "I don't just sit around in alleyways and wait for shrimps like you to come and rescue me!"

"I—you—and—Don't call me a shrimp!" Edward finally shouted, his entire face going red from either anger or embarrassment. Possibly a combination of both.

Colonel Mustang stared at me for a few seconds, and then said, "Fullmetal, why don't you go back home for a few days. Get your automail looked at, relax, and then when you come back, I'll have a new assignment ready for you."

"Go…home?" Edward looked surprised, "You mean…to Risembool?"

"What about Nem?" Alphonse inquired. "Take her with you." suggested the colonel. I gaped at him, unable to believe my good luck. Yes! This was perfect! Edward would be away from all the protection of the military, and it would be a piece of cake to kill him and run off before anyone noticed the difference!

"Take her with…I thought we were bringing her home and then that would be the end of it?" Edward reminded, staring back and forth between the colonel and me. I scowled. Hopefully when we were back home, Mama Elric would remind little Eddy of his manners.

"I don't think that's advisable, anymore." Mustang shook his head, "Obviously, the homunculi want something from her. Who better to protect her from them then the Fullmetal Alchemist, who's fought the homunculi and lived to tell the tale?"

I was quick to keep an impressed look from making its way to my face. Edward had fought the homunculi? Interesting. I'd like to see him go up against Envy. He wouldn't stand a chance.

"That's irrelevant!" Edward stammered, "We don't even know this girl!"

"I'm right here, you know," I muttered irritably.

"Well then," said Mustang with a crisp smile, "I'm sure you'll get to know her in Risembool."

"But…!" Edward began. "That's final." Mustang turned back to his paperwork, signaling that he was done talking to the Elrics.

I was ecstatic. This couldn't have gone better. Little did I know that the second the three of us stepped out of Mustang's office, the colonel picked up his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"I need you to look into something for me." He said quietly, "I don't have a last name. Just look for the name 'Nem' in every file you have. Birth records, hospital visits, school enlistments, anything you have. Call me when you find something."

Mustang listened to the voice on the other end for a second, and then hung up.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: To Take a Life

I had no idea that Colonel Roy Mustang was sending me with the Elric brothers because he didn't want me to be around while he looked into any information he could find on me. Apparently, the Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't the only ridiculously paranoid one running around in the military. That must've just been a general characteristic of the officers themselves.

As I said, I was completely unaware of this. Back then, I thought my luck could get no better. Alone, with no interferences, for at least a week. I would be back home in Dublith before I knew it, and once I was home, I'd be a whole new person. I wouldn't be seen as a little kid anymore. I'd be seen as the one who had killed the Fullmetal Alchemist.

I could hardly wait.

* * *

There were certain things about the outside world that I had absolutely no idea about. I guess that's what I get for being cooped up inside of a manor on the outskirts of town for as long as I could remember.

I had seen a train before, dropping off visitors in Dublith when I would on occasion go out to buy the groceries. However, standing right in front of this giant, loud, slightly terrifying mode of transportation that I was expected to board was something that I could honestly say I had never experienced in my life.

"Come on, Nem," Alphonse said kindly, holding out his large hand helping me up the steps and onto the train.

"You look pale." Edward commented without a trace of concern in his voice.

"I-I'm fine…" I laughed nervously, "Just…just fine."

I jumped at another loud sound that the train made. "Come on, we'd better find seats," Edward said.

The train was almost completely empty, so it wouldn't be too hard to spot a place to sit. A few people sat in the front, and then one or two more in the back, but overall, it was a ghost town. Edward took a seat next to the window, and Alphonse sat across from him. Hesitating, I finally sat down next to the Fullmetal Alchemist.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, the train jerked into motion with yet another loud noise. I let out a squeak of shock and cringed. Edward eyed me. "Nem, have you ever ridden a train before?"

I stared at him with wide blue eyes. I couldn't be sure, but I think that was the first time he had ever addressed me by my name. Or at least, the stupid nickname that they thought was my name.

"Of course I've been on a train before!" I lied defensively, and then swallowed. "Well…maybe not…"

Alphonse's laugh echoed in his armor. "You've never been on a train!" he exclaimed.

I could feel myself blushing. "It's not that unheard of!" I said feebly. Even Edward cracked a smile. I crossed my arms over my chest immaturely, staring over Edward's head and out of the window, watching the trees zoom by. I felt a sudden wave of nausea.

"It takes a little getting used to," Alphonse said, practically reading my thoughts, "and it's not for everyone. Try not to look out of the window too much until you're used to the motion."

"Right," I mumbled, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Edward leaned against the window, putting his hands behind his head and getting comfortable. "Good. Because this is a long ride."

I spent most of the past four hours staring at my feet. I didn't want to look out the window again, because God knows I'd probably throw up. Apparently I had something that the Elrics were calling motion sickness. According to Alphonse, I'd get over it after I rode a train a few more times.

"Food might help, too!" Alphonse piped, standing. "I can go get you something if you'd like, Nem."

I was so exhausted and lightheaded I didn't even register the nickname. My stomach growled in response. "Thanks, Al," I smiled weakly, pausing to note that I had used his own nickname. I'd have to be careful not to do that, or else they'd think I was getting attached. This, of course, wasn't the case. I barely knew the kids, and, in the end, one of us would be dead.

Alphonse walked down the aisle and through a door, which I assumed went to the dining area. I closed my eyes and rested my head in my hands.

"Try going to sleep," Edward suggested. I opened my eyes and glanced at him. "It usually helps make the ride go faster." He added. It might've been the first slightly helpful thing he had said to me since we met.

"Oh," I said, "Uhm…thanks. I guess."

"No problem." He pulled his pocket watch out, checking the time. "What's that say?" I frowned, "There, on the inside."

He closed the watch and stowed it in his pocket calmly. "It says the time. It's a watch."

"That's not what I meant," I rolled my eyes impatiently, "I mean, there was something scribbled on the top part."

He cocked his head to the side. "It didn't say anything, Nem. Maybe you're still feeling sick."

I frowned at him, about to ask if I could have a look at the pocket watch myself, but at that moment Alphonse returned with a tray of food.

"Here you go, Nem." He said brightly, placing the tray in my lap, "That's for you and Brother to share."

I saw Edward's hand reach out for the biscuit, so I snatched it up quickly and took a large bite. "Aren't you hungry?" I asked the younger Elric with my mouth full. _  
_

"Not right now." Alphonse said politely. Edward fumbled with an apple in his hands before taking a slow bite out of it. I got the sense something they had said went over my head. I was getting tired of these two and their secrets.

"How did you get your automail?" I asked calmly, finishing off my biscuit and looking up at Edward curiously. He bit into his apple but didn't seem bothered or uncomfortable by the question.

"Now isn't a good time for that." He said easily, his voice smooth and almost persuading. "We're close to Risembool." He glanced out of the window. It looked like nothing but empty fields to me, but I guess Edward would be able to differentiate. It was his hometown, anyway.

"Oh," I said, stifling a yawn and stretching. "It can't be that long of a story."

"It doesn't go over well when abbreviated," he murmured, taking out his watch again and checking the time for what must've been the third time in the last hour. I couldn't be sure though. I didn't have a fancy pocket watch to keep track of time myself.

He rubbed his gloved thumb over the design on the front of it and put it in his pocket, leaning his head against the window once more. He was obsessed with the thing.

I pursed my lips. That was the second time now that he had avoided my question about his automail.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat, putting the tray with leftover food down in between myself and Edward. I glanced out the window; I was so done with this train ride.

"Shouldn't be much longer, now." Alphonse said in his light, boyish voice. I popped one eye open, staring at his armor. How on earth could such a gentle-sounding fourteen year old boy be so tall?

I closed my eyes and thought about Envy and the others. I wondered what they were doing right now. Soon, maybe I would finally be allowed to go with them. After I killed Edward Elric, maybe they would think I was capable of helping them with whatever it was they did. I smiled a little. It was certainly something to look forward to.

I opened my eyes. The train seemed to be slowing down. I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that Edward was a bit restless in his seat. He lifted up his sleeves, staring at his automail. "Oh, jeez," he groaned, "She's gonna kill me."

_She?_

"You should take better care of your automail, Brother." Alphonse shook his head sternly.

The train slowed more, and then came to a complete stop. The couple of other people on the train besides us stood.

"Are we here?" I asked. It seemed fairly obvious, but maybe this was part of some train-riding etiquette I wasn't yet aware of.

"Yeah." Edward muttered, standing and grabbing his overlarge suitcase. I looked around for my knapsack, and then realized dryly that I had left it in Edward and Alphonse's room back at headquarters.

Alphonse and Edward stood, so I followed their lead. We walked down the train until we reached the place passengers hopped off. We must've been the last to get off, because after we stepped onto the ground, the door was closed behind us. After a few moments, the train made one last loud, obnoxious noise and began moving again.

I lost interest in it and decided to take a look around. All I saw were farm fields and large houses that dotted the otherwise empty plains.

"Not much of a tourist appeal, is it?" I muttered under my breath. Edward and Alphonse both began to walk, leaving me with no choice but to follow.

After just a few minutes, my feet started to hurt. I must've exerted myself more in the past two days than I had in my entire life. I slumped my shoulders and wiped sweat off of my pale forehead. The blazing sun beamed down on us, but neither of them seemed affected, even Edward, the Boy of Many Layers.

It must've been a million degrees in poor Alphonse's armor; he was probably burning up. Every time I thought about the armor, I was more and more curious as to why he wore it in the first place. I had an angry feeling I wouldn't find out for a while.

"Are we close?" I finally had to ask.

"It's that house up there." Alphonse pointed one of his arms forward, toward a large yellow house in the distance.

I groaned. "That's a no, then." I said grumpily.

Edward checked his watch. Again. He stayed quiet, though. It was clear he was unhappy that Colonel Mustang had told him to bring me along. I guess it _was _a bit strange that things had worked out so well, now that I thought about it, but I didn't dwell. It was a good omen, and I took it graciously.

The house was finally getting closer. After a few more agonizing minutes, we were walking up the path leading to the yard.

We were only a few steps onto the property when a shout of "Edward Elric!" came from the balcony on the second story, followed by a flying form of silver that hit the Fullmetal Alchemist square in the face and sent him flying backwards.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

_The blonde-haired boy with stunning golden eyes stared at his blood-stained white gloves. He was kneeling down on the ground next to a puddle of deep red blood; the source of which was nowhere to be found._

"_She trusted you," he said almost inaudibly, "and you betrayed her." _

_Standing a few yards away from him was a strangely dressed man with long green hair and amethyst colored eyes. He said nothing in return._

"_She protected you," The blonde went on, "Chose you over me, even. And you killed her." _

_Still, the other green-haired man did not speak._

"_And now," the blonde said quietly, "now I'm going to kill you." _

The girl gasped and shot straight up. Her old clothes were tattered and her long, blonde hair ratted. Her blue eyes stared widely into the distance.

"Rachel," said the small, perhaps ten year old boy next to her, in a tone of concern. He had unruly black hair in desperate need of a cut, and matching blue eyes. They sat in the back of a truck, filled with other gypsies, heading toward the Eastern part of Germany.

"Rachel," the boy repeated, "what did you see?"

"The same boy," Rachel answered. "With the golden hair."

The young boy bit his bottom lip, worried. "Did he do magic again?"

"No," Rachel answered hesitantly. "It doesn't matter, Jed."

"Yes it does!" he retorted impatiently. The other gypsies shot him a look of disdain, so, quietly, he spoke again. "Maybe we'll find him this time."

"He's not real." Rachel said irritably. But Jed knew Rachel better than that. You see, his sister had a gift. She saw things, and then, much later or sometimes in the very near future, they came true.

"We'll have answers soon." He said confidently, grasping his sister's hand. She said nothing, but leaned her head down on the side of the truck and closed her eyes once more.

* * *

"What the hell?" I gasped, staring up at the balcony where the wrench had just flown from and then back at Edward, who was on the ground, holding his head and moaning in pain. "We should get out of here right now." I said, looking once again at the balcony. No one was there.

Alphonse laughed. "Don't worry, Nem, that was nothing. These are our friends."

"Some friends," I muttered.

A girl, taller than me, with almost the same hair color, came running out of the house and toward us. "Edward Elric where have you _been?" _she shrieked, pulling him forcefully to his feet and hugging him. I blinked, and looked away quickly.

"Sorry, sorry," Edward laughed, pulling away from her. "Look, Mustang sent me back here for a bit so you could look at my automail before our next assignment."

"Alright," the girl said brightly, looking in my direction and seeming to notice me for the first time. "Erm," she began awkwardly, "Who—"

"This is Nem." Alphonse cut in quickly, "we're protecting her from the homunculi."

"oh," the girl said, narrowing her eyes and continuing to stare at me. I felt uncomfortable under her gaze and looked down at my feet.

"Nem," Alphonse continued, "This is Winry."

"hello," I mumbled, still staring intently downward.

"Hello." Winry repeated slowly, finally looking away from me and back at Edward. "Well, lets take a look then." She said, turning abruptly and heading back into the house. Hesitantly, I followed the Elrics behind her.

* * *

"What do you mean, you've found nothing?" asked Mustang furiously. Lieutenant Hawkeye, unwavering, said, "exactly that, sir. No birth records, school enrollments, hospital visits, I've found absolutely nothing on a girl named Nem."

Mustang said nothing, rubbing his brow with one hand. "Great," he muttered, "then I've just sent Fullmetal back home with a suspicious character."

"Not to be rude, sir," Hawkeye said, "But I'm sure Ed can handle himself just fine against a girl."

"Not necessarily." Mustang replied gravely, "I'm not quite sure if she _is _just a girl."

* * *

I sauntered around the small town Risembool slowly, alone with my thoughts. It didn't take much to realize I wasn't particularly welcome in the Rockbell home, so I politely excused myself to take a walk.

Though it had only been a short time since I left Dante's manor in Dublith, I already felt homesick. I thought I would enjoy being out and on my own, but this assignment was stressful and I, to be completely honest, was afraid.

I sighed loudly, stopping and looking around at my surroundings. I rolled my eyes. This place sure seemed to be a bore. There was nothing around for miles. All I could see in the distance was a small market, a train station, and a cemetery. I bit my lip, considering, and then decided to make my way toward the cemetery.

I walked up and down the rows of graves, blankly reading the names carved into the stone. Only after I had taken a few steps past it, did one name seem to stick out at me.

I backtracked.

Trisha Elric.

_Loving mother._

My eyes narrowed. Was it a coincidence?

"Did you know her?" though it was kind, the voice behind me startled me and I gasped, jumping and spinning around.

A tall man with dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and glasses smiled at me. I took a few seconds to regain myself and then, slowly, answered, "No, not really."

I stared at the man curiously, but he had looked back at the grave now. "Did you?" I pressed, watching him.

"Yes," he murmured. "But, things change, I suppose."

"I'll say," I muttered in agreement, thinking about Envy and the others, and if I'd ever even see them again. I looked down at the grave again.

"Everything is different," he said quietly, "But, then again, everything is the same."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I looked up, only to see that the man had disappeared. I gasped, spinning around, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Hey!"

I looked up at the source of the shouting, only to see Edward, his automail arm in a sling, standing outside the graveyard.

"Damn it, Nem, how are we supposed to protect you if you go running off like that?" he complained, beginning to walk toward me, but I darted away from his mother's grave and toward him before he could see what I had been looking at.

"sorry," I said quickly, "I didn't mean to."

He rolled his eyes but said nothing, turning around to head back to Winry's house.

"So," he said, "When are you going to tell us what the homunculi want with you?"

My breath caught in my throat. "I don't know what they wanted." I answered immediately.

He scoffed. "They wouldn't attack you for no reason, you know." He said. "What are you hiding? You don't have to be afraid. Al and I can protect you."

His offer seemed sincere, but I could hear the smallest bit of interest in his tone. I frowned, upset with myself for thinking for just a second he actually just wanted to help me. No, of course not. He assumed I had something worth hiding and he wanted it.

"Like I said," I replied bitterly, "I have no idea what they would've wanted from me. I'm just a normal girl."

We walked for the next few minutes in silence, until Edward asked pointedly, "Are you an alchemist?"

"No." I answered truthfully. It wasn't from lack of trying, either. Dante had tried to teach me simple alchemy when I was young, but I unfortunately never got the hang of it.

Edward said nothing.

"Look," I said, lying through my teeth, "You're treating me like I've wronged you. I think you forgot I'm just a victim in all of this. I didn't ask for your help, okay. I was attacked and that isn't my fault."

Edward sighed. "Okay. Fine. You're right. But once we go back to central, you're going home. And if Mustang disagrees, he can find someone else to babysit you. Al and I have a lot to do and we can't be slowed down."

I stared at him, and couldn't help but be offended. "Thanks." I said dryly. He didn't reply. The remainder of our walk was in silence.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

We were leaving Risembool today, thank God. The small town bored me and I was ready to go back to Central, even though it was possible that the Fullmetal Alchemist and I would be separated, and my plans to kill him ruined.

While Edward and Alphonse said their goodbyes and prepared to leave, I decided to visit Trisha Elric's grave one last time. I wasn't really sure why. I didn't remember anything about my original family, and to be quite honest, I didn't really miss them either, so I had hardly any idea what loss felt like. A small wave of sympathy for the Elric brothers washed over me.

I wasn't alone in the cemetery today; there was a sniffling man a few rows in front of me laying flowers on a grave. I bit my lip, feeling slightly awkward all of a sudden, and plucked some weeds, putting them in front of Trisha Elric's grave.

I stared at it for a few moments, and then spoke.

"I know your son," I informed the grave, "He's… he's something else, alright."

I frowned. I was talking to the grave of a woman I had never met.

"He's kind of an asshole," I admitted, continuing to talk to the grave. "But sometimes he's not that bad." I paused, and then in a much quieter voice, said, "It's a shame I'll have to—"

"what are you doing here?" snapped a sharp voice behind me, and I spun around.

"Edward." I said, blinking. My cheeks suddenly went very pink. How long had he been standing there? How bad did this look?

"What are _you _doing here?" I snapped back for lack of a better comeback.

"I can't visit my own mother's grave?" he asked, and then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What are you doing here?"

I fumbled for an excuse, and then finally decided it was in my best interest to tell the truth.

"I found it the other day," I said quietly, "When did she…?"

"I was eleven." He said coldly, looking past me and at the grave now.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I lost my mother too. I was too young to remember." I found myself saying these words without thinking about them. "I lost my entire family. They were all murdered. I was the only one that survived. I was two."

Edward looked up at me again, but his expression was no longer angry. "then what?"

My eyes widened and I realized I had made a huge mistake. "I was adopted." I invented quickly. "took a new name, moved to a new city. Moved on with my life."

Edward looked back down at the grave. He seemed to buy my story. After all, it was true.

"Well," I said after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "We'd best be heading toward the train station then."

"Yeah," Edward agreed quietly, not looking up, "Al is going to meet us there with our things."

"Okay," I nodded, taking a few steps backward. Edward didn't follow, though. He knelt down next to the grave, placing his hands on the weeds I had left. There was a bright light, and when it died down, they had been replaced with roses.

"Wow." I said before I could stop myself, "That's amazing. How did you do that without a transmutation circle?"

Edward looked surprised that I even knew what I transmutation circle was, but he answered in a dark tone, "trust me, it's a talent not worth perusing."

* * *

"It's still pouring out," said Alphonse worriedly, glancing out the window in our compartment of the train.

Indeed it was pouring, and at this late in the night it was almost impossible to see out the window anyway.

"We're almost at our stop." Alphonse said when Edward didn't answer, "And the train to Central isn't coming any time soon."

Edward still said nothing, playing with the pocketwatch in his hands.

"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed impatiently, "I can't get wet!"

Edward finally looked up at Alphonse. "Oh yeah." He said. "Well, damn."

"What's the matter, Al," I laughed, "afraid your suit will rust?"

Alphonse and Edward both shifted uncomfortably.

"Why don't you just take the damn thing off?" I asked, still curious as to why he wore it in the first place.

"Nem," Alphonse began, but his brother cut him off.

"Al, no." he said firmly.

"Ed, we have to tell her!" Alphonse said.

"There's no point, after tomorrow we'll never even see her again." Edward muttered, crossing his arms and staring out the window. I pursed my lips.

"Nem," Alphonse said again. He seemed to be struggling for words. Finally, he reached for the helmet of his armor, and slowly pulled it off.

I gasped and hopped to my feet in horror.

There was nothing there.

"What the _fu—!"_

"Don't be afraid!" Alphonse said quickly, putting his hands on my shoulders and pushing me down into my seat with ease. "I'm still human!"

"You're not human…" I choked, "You're…"

"It was a transmutation gone wrong." Alphonse explained, pointing to the mark inside the armor. I gazed at it. "This keeps my soul attached to this suit of armor, allowing me to animate it." He explained. "My body is still in the Gate. That's why Brother and I are looking for the Philosopher's Stone." He added, "To get my body back, and Edward's arm and leg back."

I stared back and forth between Edward and Alphonse, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open.

"But… what did you _do?" _I couldn't help asking, "What could you have done that could've gone so…" I trailed off, waiting for an answer.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

It took me by surprise when Edward rather than Alphonse finally said, "we tried to resurrect our mother."

If possible, my eyes widened even more. "What happened?" I whispered, "did she…?"

"No." Edward answered without any inflection. "The thing we created was not human."

My head was spinning. "You mean, you…"

It couldn't have been possible. I thought back to my home, my "family". Could Edward and Alphonse have created…Sloth?

But before anyone could say a word, the train slowed down, and came to a halt. Alphonse hesitated. "I guess we'll book a room for tonight." Edward groaned, "And go to Central in the morning instead."

The three of us walked off of the train—luckily for Alphonse everything was under shelter and he didn't get wet—and hastily checked into the inn connected to the station. I wrinkled my nose. The air inside tasted stale and I could've sworn I saw a rat scurrying along the walls of the lobby.

I didn't realize until we reached our room how exhausted I had been. It was small and decorated with green patterned wallpaper and matching sheets on the two beds.

"Lovely." I commented, flopping down on the bed closest to the window. Edward went into the bathroom and Alphonse sat on the foot of the bed.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, "I can go get you something."

As if in response, my stomach growled loudly. Alphonse began to stand.

"No, it's fine!" I said quickly, "I don't need anything."

"Man, I'm _starved." _Edward said, rubbing his stomach and walking out of the bathroom. "Lets go get food."

I peered out the window. "It's still raining." I reminded them.

"That's fine," Alphonse said, as if he wanted us to realize he couldn't come. "I don't eat anyway."

I paused. I would be alone, with Edward. I stared at Alphonse. I had the feeling I wasn't the only one up to something. However, this could be my chance to get the job done so I didn't argue.

"Alright," Edward agreed, clearly not as perceptive to Alphonse's manipulative ways as I was, "Nem and I will go then. We'll be back in a bit, Al." he motioned for me to follow, and we exited the room, speedwalking down the stairs and toward the front door. We both paused, staring outside, and Edward finally sighed and slipped out of his red coat, handing it to me.

Before I could refuse, he opened the door and darted out, crossing the street. I rolled my eyes, sliding into the coat and lifting the hood, and chased after him.

"So," said Edward with a mouth full of food. Though it was late, the pub was still lively, and believe it or not, I was actually enjoying myself. "What are you up to, Nem?"

I choked on my water. "E-Excuse me?" I coughed.

"Why isn't your family looking for you?" he pressed. "Your adoptive one."

I paused, recovering my composure and sipping the water again. "I made myself very clear that I wasn't going home." I made up, looking away. "I don't belong there."

"So what are you doing?" Edward asked, "Where are you going?"

I struggled to find an answer. "Erm," I said slowly, "I'm, er, I'm going to look for who killed my real parents." I spewed out quickly.

Edward stared at me. "Do you have money?"

"No."

"Means of transportation?"

"Nope."

"Do you even know where you're from?"

"Negatory."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, good luck then."

I scowled and looked around the pub—and almost choked again. A man I had never seen before was staring at me with a very familiar leer. He winked one of his amethyst eyes.

Envy.

My jaw dropped. What was he doing here? _Watching _me?

"Look, Nem," Edward said, "If you need help –"

"We should go." I cut him off, standing up abruptly and taking his hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Envy raise an eyebrow. Edward blushed but didn't pull his hand away. "Why?"

"I'm tired." I lied, dragging him to the door, "Let's go."

It wasn't until we were running in the rain again that I had realized I saw Envy as a threat—and not only that, but I had pulled Edward out of harm's way.

"Nem," Edward suddenly said, stopping in the middle of the road and turning around, just inches in front of me. I glanced around. We were right in front of the inn.

"What?" I asked, looking around and rubbing my hands over my arms. We were both already drenched. "I'm sorry for what I said in Risembool," he began, "Look… if you want to find your answers, Alphonse and me, we can help you. We'll protect you from the homunculi and you can help us look for the Stone as well."

I paused. Though in reality I wasn't interested in answers at all, I was flattered by Edward's offer.

"That's… that's really sweet," I said, "But—"

"I just need to know one thing," he shouted over the rain, "Can I trust you?"

I hesitated.

"Yes," I finally responded, "Yeah, you can trust me."

And he smiled back at me, and I wasn't really sure what I was doing or why, but in that moment I had flung my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"Well?" Dante repeated, "what is she doing? Is she close to killing the target?"

Envy hesitated, thinking of what he had witnessed in the rain. "Yes," he lied slowly, frowning to himself, "Yes, I'd say the task will be completed shortly."

"Are you sure?" Dante seemed so surprised she forgot to sound menacing. "She hasn't strayed off track at all?"

"No, ma'am." Envy said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm," Dante murmured, "Interesting. I thought she would fall all too easily in love with being free. Perhaps I have wrongly doubted her. Very impressive, Nemesis."

"Yes," Envy agreed, "very impressive indeed."

* * *

We kissed as we made our way through the lobby, and we kissed up the stairs, and we kissed in the hallway, and finally, with Edward's hands on either side of my face, we kissed with my back against the hotel room's door.

"Al's inside," he murmured against my lips, and then, eyes widening, he jumped a foot away from me and stared at me in horror. I reflected the expression, and we both seemed to realize at that moment what had just happened.

We stared at each other for a bit longer, and then I quickly spun around and opened the door, strolling in with Edward on my heels.

"Hey!" Alphonse said cheerfully, "How was dinner?"

"Great," I replied, "delicious. Well, I'm beat. I think it's about time for bed."

"Yeah." Edward agreed, looking confused.

"You're both soaked." Alphonse commented.

"Yep," I said, "Got caught in the rain. No big deal." I paced over to the bathroom and made my best attempt at drying my hair with a towel. Edward did the same. His elbow brushed against mine and we both shuffled awkwardly away from each other.

My wet clothes, which I had borrowed from Winry, were beginning to get uncomfortable now. Stepping out of the bathroom, I made my way to Edward's suitcase, which was on top of his bed. I opened it and peered around, frowning at the clothing I had borrowed. "Not really my style," I said dryly, lifting up a mechanic's uniform and slipping out of my clothes. Alphonse quickly looked away and Edward blushed horribly, spinning around so fast he fell into the tub.

Winry was taller than me and much curvier, so the uniform didn't fit that well, but it was dry, so I was satisfied.

"Well," I cleared my throat, crawling into my bed next to the window. "erm, goodnight then."

"Yeah," Edward responded, giving me an uncomfortable smile and crawling into his own bed as I crawled into mine. I shot Alphonse an apologetic look as he noisily sat down.

"It's alright," he said sincerely, as if reading my mind. I grimaced at him, and then reached over and pulled the chain on the lamp, sending the room to darkness. For a while, we all stayed in silence, though we all knew quite well no one was sleeping yet.

I bit my lip nervously and stared at the ceiling. What was I supposed to do now? Envy was following me, watching me, how long had it been since I left Dublith? A bit over a week.

Dante said to take all of the time I needed, right? And Envy hinted that I shouldn't kill Edward until after we've found the Stone.

I smiled to myself, feeling much more content now. Yes, that's what I would do. I would wait until Edward found the Stone and then I would kill him.

I turned over on my side and closed my eyes.

And who knew how long that could take, anyway? Weeks, months… there was nothing wrong with waiting to please Dante even more.

But still, I felt an uncomfortable knot in the pit of my stomach.

* * *

"Home sweet home," said Edward bitterly as we walked through Central Headquarters. "I wonder where Mustang's going to send us next. I'm done with these god damn wild goose chases, we aren't getting anywhere."

"Yeah," Alphonse agreed. "We haven't found any new information on the Stone since Cornello, and that didn't go too well."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Edward muttered, taking a sharp left and pushing a door open without so much as a knock. Alphonse and I followed in behind him.

Under a large stack of paperwork that didn't seem any smaller than when I had last seen it sat the familiar man with unruly black hair and eyes to match. He glanced up at Edward, and then his focus went straight to me.

Immediately, he stood up and extended his arm, shooting a string of flames in my direction.

"Ah!" I yelped, jumping out of the way in panic.

"What the hell are you _doing?" _demanded Edward, looking back in forth between the Colonel and I in shock.

"This girl is not who she says she is." Said Colonel Mustang shortly.

My heart sped up and my stomach dropped. This was it, I was about to die.

Edward frowned. "What does that mean?"

Without looking away from me, Mustang strolled toward us, his arm still extended. "There are no records of any 'Nem' ever existing. No type of file, not even a birth certificate."

I was sure they must've been able to hear my heartbeat by now. I swallowed loudly, but said nothing. My eyes were wide with fear.

"I know!" Edward responded angrily, and I looked up at him in confusion, "she explained everything to me."

I frowned. When did I do that?

_Oh, right, _I realized, blushing. Edward had remembered my made up story about being adopted and looking for answers.

Mustang rolled his eyes. "I think this girl is a homunculus." He narrowed his eyes at me.

"That's crazy!" Alphonse exclaimed, "Nem would never try to hurt us!"

I never once looked away from Mustang, who suddenly bent down next to me and lifted me up by my arm before I could even gasp.

"Let's prove it, then," he spat at me, and I noticed something sharp and shiny in his hand—a letter opener.

"Hey!" Edward shouted, "What are you-!"

But without any hesitation at all, Mustang swiped the blade across my cheek.

I inhaled sharply, pulling away from him and gingerly touching the cut. I winced. It stung.

Edward and Alphonse both looked outraged.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Edward demanded, "Why did you do that?"

Mustang stared at me in curiosity. "Interesting," he said slowly, "If she was a homunculus, it would've healed."

"And it didn't, because she's not!" Alphonse said in his high-pitched voice. Both brothers stood on either side of me. I wiped dripping blood from my chin.

"We should get Nem a bandaid." Alphonse spoke again. He didn't sound angry, like Edward, just confused.

Mustang continued to stare at me. I knew I looked guilty to him, and I certainly knew I wasn't off the hook. My heart was still racing.

"That's right, Al, so let's get out of here as fast as we can." Edward turned to Mustang, "What is our next assignment?" he shot at his superior rudely.

Still, Mustang's gaze at me was unwavering. "Fullmetal," he spoke, "Let's have a word alone."

Edward pursed his lips, but turned to face Alphonse and I. "Go take Nem to find a bandage," he instructed. Al nodded and took my small hand in his large metal one, leading me out the door and down the hallway.

"Ed." Said Mustang sternly, "This girl is a threat and you are being thick-headed."

"She's just an ordinary girl from off the streets." Edward scoffed, "She's no threat to Al and I, and even if she was I'm pretty sure I could handle a little _girl." _

Mustang peered at Edward, and then a look of understanding dawned on his face.

"I see," he smirked, "You're allowing your hormones to cloud your judgment. My, my, I never thought I'd see the day."

Edward blushed violently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If someone wants to hurt you, this is the way they would do it!" Mustang urged, but Edward rolled his eyes.

"Can you just tell us where to go so we can get out of here?" he asked impatiently.

The colonel looked aghast. "You're taking her _with _you?"

"That's right," Edward said shortly, "so, where are we off to?"


End file.
